 In 2003, Pete and Freda Cenarrusa organized the Cenarrusa Foundation for Basque Culture (originally the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies), which promotes the culture and history of the Basques by providing resources for performances, presentations and programs and to organizations throughout Idaho and Oregon.Cenarussa was instrumental in the founding of the Basque Studies Program at Boise State University in 2006.After a three-year battle with cancer, Cenarrusa died in Boise His funeral was at St. John's Cathedral in Boise and he was buried in Blaine County, at the Bellevue Cemetery in Bellevue.